collocation

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of collocation The collocation of them is not unusual. New York Times, 30 July 2021 The risk of these writers’ style, with their short chapters and darting insights, is randomness, and sometimes this book, whatever its thematic claims, seems to consist of what has come under the author’s eye, an arbitrary collocation. Charles Finch, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for collocation
Noun
  • That’s a phrase Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager, is credited with introducing to the lexicon of English football.
    Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2025
  • The criticism of labor importation acquired new phrases by the turn of the 20th century.
    Made by History, Time, 26 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • There is a French idiom that says when something is so easy, it can be done with ‘les doigts dans le nez’ — the fingers in the nose.
    Liam Tharme, The Athletic, 23 Jan. 2025
  • While often used sarcastically to mock true believers, the idiom reflects Italy’s enduring ambiguity toward Fascism, even 80 years after its fall.
    Mattia Ferraresi, airmail.news, 1 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Confucius says—an old-fashioned locution, perhaps, but appropriate here—never to take interest in feats of strength.
    Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
  • That archly strangled locution, the ceaseless scorn: the vendor’s voice nags at the former Dean Street boy.
    Rachel Cusk, Harper's Magazine, 27 Sep. 2023

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Collocation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/collocation. Accessed 31 Mar. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on collocation

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!